How to Determine if Your ETFs Match Your Goals

This time of year — essentially the halfway point — is a great opportunity for you to do a little post-analysis of your investment holdings to see where you are, and to see if where you are is where you want to be. In today’s Weekly ETF Report video (below), I talk about the importance of performing your own personal halftime review, and I strongly encourage you to check the video out as soon as you have a chance.

One of the most important things about conducting this halftime review is to make sure the stocks, bonds, mutual funds and, hopefully, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) you own are meeting your overriding investment objectives. Yet for many investors, knowing what that objective really is can be half the battle.

For example, are you primarily a growth investor, or primarily an income investor? Are you looking to get big gains on the money you’ve invested, or are you looking to generate income from your existing assets? If you haven’t yet defined this for yourself, then you need to do so immediately. That’s because your goals will determine where you want to put your money. Stated differently, you want to make sure you have the right ETFs for your goals.

Fortunately, the ETF revolution is here, and that means there are fantastic choices out there for both growth investors and income investors. Now, this week, I want to direct our discussion to those who are primarily concerned with income generation. If this describes you, then pay particularly close attention to the following table.

Dividend Equity ETFs

Ticker

Name

YTD%

Yield (12M)

DIV

Global X Superdividend US ETF

13.57

5.36

PSK

SPDR Wells Fargo Preferred Stock ETF

10.73

6.51

PFXF

Market Vectors Pref Ex-Finan

10.34

6.11

DON

WisdomTree Midcap Dividend Fund

9.45

2.24

SDOG

ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs

9.29

3.28

PGX

PowerShares Preferred Portfolio

8.85

6.10

FDL

First Trust Morningstar Dividend Leaders

8.53

2.92

PFF

iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock

8.36

6.65

PEY

PowerShares HighYield Dividend Achievers

8.10

3.26

DVY

iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index

7.89

3.00

The ETFs here represent some of the biggest and best dividend-paying equity ETFs. These ETFs represent a variety of companies around the world, companies in well established businesses that are paying their shareholders strong dividends and that also offer very attractive dividend yields.

The stocks of companies here can perform like growth stocks, but that’s not their primary appeal. Recently, dividend stocks have shown strong capital appreciation, as evidenced by the data in the YTD% column. The performance of each of these funds is well above that of the S&P 500 Index through the first six-plus months of 2014.

High-Yield Income ETFs

Ticker

Name

YTD%

Yield (12M)

REM

iShares NAREIT Mortgage REITs Index

9.72

13.58

MORT

Market Vectors Mortgage REIT

14.79

12.46

PSP

PowerShares Listed Private Equity Portfolio

1.90

11.09

YYY

Yield Shares High Income ETF

5.29

8.77

YMLP

Yorkville High Income MLP

1.90

8.64

PCEF

PowerShares CEF Income Composite

4.77

7.82

HYLD

Peritus High Yield ETF

3.07

7.49

SPFF

Global X Superincome Prefer

3.43

7.04

CORP

PIMCO Inv Grade Corp BD

4.26

6.74

PFF

iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock

8.36

6.65

The table above shows some of the highest-yielding ETFs out there. The Yield (12M) column at the far right shows just how attractive — and how big — the dividend yield is on each of these ETFs. As you can see, many of these funds are offering strong year-to-date percentage returns, as well as robust dividend yields. These funds range from mortgage real estate investment trusts, or REITs, to high-yield bonds to preferred stocks to Master Limited Partnerships, or MLPs.

What is truly impressive, besides the yield, is the variety of ETFs available to those who are primarily concerned with generating income. Today, there is just no excuse for failing to achieve your income goals with ETFs.

So, if your halftime review shows your income-generating assets lacking, then it’s time to take a hard look at adding dividend-paying equity ETFs and high-yield income ETFs to your portfolio.

Aurelius on Individualism

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”

–Marcus Aurelius

Sometimes, life is all about just being true to who you really are. If you are in a rut, either with your investments, your professional life or even your personal life, then maybe now is the time to break out and start to really become your own person.

Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote you’d like me to share with your fellow Weekly ETF Report readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my audio podcast, newsletters, seminars or anything else. Ask Doug.

About Doug Fabian

Doug Fabian is the editor of the monthly investment newsletter Successful ETF Investing and is the host of the syndicated radio show, "Doug Fabian's Wealth Strategies." Taking over the reins from his dad, Dick Fabian, back in 1992, Doug has continued to uphold the reputation of the newsletter as the #1 risk-adjusted market timer as ranked by Hulbert’s Investment Digest. Doug published the book, "Maverick Investing," and has appeared as a commentator on CNBC, Fox News and CNN. He also has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Barron's and other publications.

I DO NOT LIKE THE EITHER/OR APPROACH…GROWTH OR DIVIDENDS. DIVIDENDS WILL ‘FEED’ ME NOW BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY RUN OUT OF STEAM AND LOWER DIVIDENDS. SINCE I INTEND TO LIVE TO 105, DOWN THE ROAD IS IMPORTANT TO ME. AS THE DIVIDEND (ETF) RUN OUT OF STEAM WE SWITCH CREATING MORE MAINTENANCE FEES TO NIBBLE AWAY AT OUR PRINCIPAL. IF WE HAVE GROWTH THEY WILL MATERIALIZE INTO DIVIDEND PRODUCING, TAKING UP THE SLACK OF FADING DIVIDENDS, AND WE CAN ADD NEW GROWTH STOCKS. WITHOUT GROWTH YOU WILL EVENTUALLY HAVE NO DIVIDENDS. MY IDEAL PORTFOLIO IS GROWTH AND DIVIDENDS WITH A SPRINKLING OF CALCULATED RISK. WE EAT TODAY AND TOMORROW AND EVEN HAVE SOME SPICE ADDED TO THE MIX.

With decades of Wall Street experience, we publish investment newsletters and website articles offering advice on the best stocks, options, ETFs and mutual funds to invest in for both dividends and capital gains.